25 or 6 to 4 - a favorite of my youth

[sunvalleylaw]

I used to listen to this repeatedly before 7th grade flag football to get psyched up to commit mayhem on defense. I loved it. Chicago was a big influence in that time of my life. Before Cetera took them down a sugar sweet road. This recording is from before I was listening to it, but is pretty sweet. Anyway, here it is:

q2y5-DY5oU4

[just strum]

A definite memory lane. Nice post.

[stingx]

One of my all time favorite bands. My dad turned me on to them at a young age. Cool post!

[Robert]

Me too, I've always loved Chicago. Terrific band.

That video kinda sucks though? Not much to look at, and I never saw any vocalist. :whatever:

[M29]

Always loved this band. Sounds like Cetera singing this one. Yeah on where Cetera took them. I like em raw like back in the vid.

M29

[sunvalleylaw]

I believe it is definitely Cetera singing here. I definitely like the Terry Kath songs as well. Robert, I looked at another live vid, and it was more refined vid, but the audio and performance was way better in this one. Cetera lives around here, and released a Christmas CD with his daughter that was sold locally. I didn't pick it up yet.

[Spudman]

I had lunch with Pete's ex-wife one day. I was in town for a mountain bike race and everything was going fine until she found out that I was a musician too. After that the conversation went cold.

Terry Kath. What energy. A great player and a tragic loss.

[M29]

I didn't care for where the band went with Peter Cetera but that man sure can sing! What a great voice and range.

M29

[birv2]

I saw them at Atlantic City Pop Festival in 69. I think they were still CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) at that point. What I remember is that they completely kicked ***, especially Terry Kath, who was one of the great ones live. Truly a great loss (and should definitely be on that underrated list on the other thread).

btw, the sound on the video sounds exactly like the record. Is it just overdubbed? Guitar solo sounds note for note, with same wah inflection.

In either case, they were truly a great band with those first few albums.

Thanks for posting this.

Bob

[duhvoodooman]

I saw them during the summer of '69, also, and they were still calling themselves "CTA" at that point. This was between their eponymous first album and the second--the silver double album called Chicago II, which contains 25 or 6 to 4 and several other of their best known hits. That was the summer after I graduated from HS, and a small club in Schenectady called the Aerodrome booked some amazing acts. In addition to Chicago, Led Zeppelin and Jeff Beck Group (with vocalist Rod Stewart) appeared there that summer, along with a few more acts that I didn't see (including Big Brother & the Holding Company with Janis Joplin!).

In any case, they were amazing, and the horns were highly unusual in a rock group at that time. But Terry Kath was the one who held my eye all night. Great guitarist. Actually, the one who did the most singing was the keyboardist, Robert Lamm. Kath sang a couple of songs, as did Cetera, who also sang a lot of high harmony parts.

This phony video is done the same way I've seen many done on YouTube. They take old video footage and dub the original recording over it. So you may be seeing a live performance, but you're not hearing it....

[sunvalleylaw]

Yah, I think you guys are right about the vid. It does seem note for note. The other live one I listened to was not anything like it. Glad you enjoyed it though. I learned a little more today. DVM, you have seen some things man . . . Great concert experiences you can relate.

[Tone2TheBone]

I had lunch with Pete's ex-wife one day. I was in town for a mountain bike race and everything was going fine until she found out that I was a musician too. After that the conversation went cold.....


Do tell S...that's very interesting.

Saw them long time ago and again a year ago near my birfday at the casino. Old memories and new ones made the evening.